Attendance versus current score in MS 150/1 and MS 150/O1 Statistics
During a recent faculty sharing session I noted that my MS 150/O1 online section is performing better than my MS 150/1 residential section. I wanted to put some numbers to that assertion and to explore the impact of attendance on students' current scores in the residential section.
Both sections have access to the same materials and assignments. The course arguably delivers the same course learning outcomes to both sections as both sections are working through the same assignments at the same time. Assessment occurs through homework assignments, tests, and data exploration exercises.
Students take the same tests. Tests are asynchronous and online. Residential students are encouraged but not required to attend class on the day of a test. I view this as providing a more level playing field for the tests in the two sections.
The data exploration exercises provide students with raw data and a set of questions. The students have to decide on what statistics and charts are appropriate to answering the questions and then submit their analysis as a Slides presentation. These data exploration and analysis assignments are challenging for the students and provide me with insight into what the students know and what the students are able to do. These assignments carry more weight than the tests and are a core element of assessment in the course.
Statistical summary for MS 150/1 and MS 150/O1 Statistics as of 4/25/2024
The MS 150/O1 online section is outperforming the MS 150/1 residential section by six points as measured by the average current score of the section and by almost twelve points by the median current scores for the two sections. The course learning outcomes average is also higher for the online section than the residential section.
The MS 150/1 residential section has a bimodal distribution with seven of fourteen (50%) of the students passing the course with a grade of "D" or higher.
The MS 150/O1 online section has a roughly normal distribution with sixteen of twenty (80%) of the students passing the course with a grade of "D" or higher.
In MS 150/1 I take daily attendance in a spreadsheet. There is no attendance policy specified in the syllabus. The syllabus includes a participation policy statement that applies to all students. I do not withdraw residential students based on absences. All assignments are due within a week of the assignment being made and then the assignment is unavailable. There are assignments every class day. Students who do not regularly engage with the course quickly dig too deep a hole to recover.
Attendance days out of 48 versus the current score in MS 150/1 residential 4/28/2024
Attendance versus current score shows a strong correlation coefficient r of 0.84. This relationship is significant (p = 0.00016). This relationship argues that absences negatively impact the residential students despite their having access to the same online materials as the online section.
The regression line suggests that, theoretically, 23 out of 44 attendance days predicts a passing score of 60%. This represents 21 absences - far more flexible than any attendance policy is likely to recommend.
The strong relationship of attendance to current score indicates that absenteeism exacts its own penalty on the students.
Under a mandatory attendance policy allowing only six absences, excused or unexcused,with punishment for faculty who fail to enforce the policy, there would be only two students left in the residential section of the course this term. During the era in which an attendance policy was in effect, many of my students exceeded the absence limit.
Spring 2009 was the last term for the mandatory attendance policy. Bear in mind that in 2009 the course lacked support videos and presentations. There were still students who were passing the course despite having in excess of six absences.
Absences alone are a poor argument for withdrawing a student. Although in 1992 I was withdrawing students on absences alone, by 2009 I had a more nuanced understanding of absences. Young mothers with babies, family obligations, funerals, the lack of personal agency and control a child has within a family structure here. By 2009 I was only withdrawing students who racked up consecutive absences in excess of three weeks, were failing, were not responding to messages sent to them, and were not submitting homework or completing tests.
There is one other aspect of attendance that involves student perceptions. Anecdotally there is the perception among high school seniors that the college is year 13 and 14 of high school and not a "real college." One of the contributors to this perception that has been cited to me is the taking of attendance and the use of attendance in suspending a student from a class. The college calls it withdrawing, the student sees this as suspension from the class. While there are college courses where professors take attendance, my own experience in two colleges was the absence of attendance being taken.
Any blanket statement will always have necessary exceptions. A volleyball or basketball class cannot function without enough students to engage in playing the sport. This is why attendance must be up to the faculty member to decide, and then to make that policy clear to the students in the course. And nothing is stopping a faculty member from setting a six absence limit and enforcing that. My argument is only that what one faculty member deems appropriate may not be optimal for all faculty. One size does not fit all. The current policy lets each faculty member make their own professional decision on attendance.
Although I realize that at this time there are solid walls between online and residential education, my sense is that a lingering aftereffect of the pandemic and the decline in college enrollment being seen both here and in the United States will be a slow shift toward a more blended, flexible college experience. Hybridization of residential and online courses appears to be almost inevitable. College was once measured primarily by seat time and credits awarded for that seat time. The shift to centering on learning outcomes, what the student knows, can do, or values, is a shift away from contact hours and seat time.
Comments
Post a Comment